Cry of the Setting Sun
by Cerberuswaltz
Summary: Temporary hiatus- needs to be re-written.
1. Inflicted

**"Nightshade Fever"**

**by Cerberuswaltz**

A/N: Sorry everyone! I decided after reading some reviews (who still reads this? Wow!) that I wanted a fresh start on this. So, I changed the title. The basic plot is the same, but I'm re-doing a lot. I kind re-read it all and I rushed it. For now, please enjoy. I'll also be throwing up a new chapter soon! Sorry if this doesn't come out properly formatted as well, since I'm experimenting with that new 'Open Office' thing. Sorry for the long update as well, I wanted to finish 'Birty by Sleep', and as such will be adding Aqua and Terra to this story, as well as Master Xehanort. Ciao!

WARNING: Yaoi. No lemon, but still yaoi, between a 15 year old and 31 year old, and consenting as well. Don't like it? I don't care. Go read another story then.

_Chapter 1, "Inflicted"_

Roxas had always been second rate; not totally, but compared to his twin brother, Sora, who was only a minute or so old, he was. Sora was the start athlete. He had a great smile, great personality, was always nice, stood up for the little guys, and had the popular girlfriend. Yes, Sora had it all, and Roxas... well, he had the rest. He didn't look like Sora too much, and didn't have the great smile, nor was he athletic. He shopped cheap and worked hard, studied, and loved to play nerdy games, like Chess. Of course, their parents loved them both, but when it came to their accomplishments, Sora always came up on top, even with Roxas and his genius. Not that he minded, though. He liked having peace of mind.

And that's where we start. The two boys walking down the streets of their busy town, Twilight Town, coming home from school. Roxas walked with his backpack straps on each shoulder, his hands holding each strap, while Sora carried his flung over his back, by one strap. They didn't talk much; not Roxas, anyway. He always found himself thinking in his mind. Sora would always either be talking about the next sport event, or with Kairi his girlfriend, who walked with them sometimes, or Kairi on his phone. Except today. Sora had said, "Can you believe it's September already?"

Roxas didn't say anything at first, but looked at the ground, kicking small pebbles. "Well?" Sora said, poking at Roxas' attention. "Huh?" Roxas said stupidly, broken from his daze. "You're talking to me?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Duh, doofus. Who else would I be talking to?"

Roxas was about to attest, but thought against it and instead asked, "What did you say, again?"

Sora looked at Roxas and shook his head. "I was saying that I can't believe it's September already, ya know?"

Roxas nodded in agreement. "It was quick, yeah. Summer came and went again, and here we were at our first day of school." Roxas said as he stared off into the distance. Sora was texting, probably Kairi.

"So, are you going to do the festival commite, again?" Sora asked. Each October, before Halloween, or a week before, they had a Carnival for the town, since it was founded in October. "I'm pretty sure. I did last year, and I had a lot of fun. But I can't really say, since it's not my decision in the end."

"And the carnival was pretty fun, too, I guess... but.. you should make it funner this year."

Roxas gave his brother a puzzled look and asked, "What do you mean? Everyone liked it last year. They said it was one of the best ever."

"No doubt, because you know how to organize," Sora replied, "but... it just wasn't challenging. Make some tough games... harder. Nothing easy." Sora said with a large grin.

_'Easy for you to say,'_ Roxas thought, _'not everyone is as skilled as you.'_

"Well?" Sora said a little annoyed his brother was taking so long to respond. "Oh, right. Okay, I'll see what I can do. That's if I'm on the committee, though, remember!" Roxas said, quickly snapping out of his thoughts once again.

The rest of the walk was quite. Sora had started throwing air punches for no reason, and Roxas looked into the orange sky, blankly thinking. They had moved here two years ago from the hectic city of Midlight's Deep, and life seemed to go well. Roxas couldn't help but think of his old friend, Axel though. He did miss him a lot, even if he was able to make some new friends in town.

As they got home to their perfect little picket fence house, their parents were waiting outside. "Hey ma, hey pa," Sora said quickly, rushing past them and heading inside. He failed to kick off his shoes, and ran upstairs quickly, which his mother called to remind him about.

Roxas walked slowly, though, nodding and smiling, still holding onto the straps of his backpack. "Not so fast, kid!" his father said, barricading the door with his arm. "What's up?" Roxas asked in surprise, taking a few too many steps back. He look at his father, the towering man with short dirty blonde hair and his glasses always sliding down to the tip of his nose. A strong man who rarely smiled on Roxas' occasion. Always seen in his business suits, he had a neatly trimmed mustache, probably to show that he indeed meant business.

"We need to talk," his mother said slowly.

_'Oh my God'_ Roxas thought. His heart started to race, and he started to sweat like Sora after basketball practice. Did they find...?

"W-what's wrong?" Roxas said, trying to pull the words from his mouth. His father just grunted and pointed to the yard. "That's what's wrong. Pluto keeps crappin' on the lawn, and I keep stepping on it when I go to water it. You know Sora has things that he needs to do, so it's your job to clean after the dog."

"Blake," Roxas' mom started, obviously talking to his dad, "You don't need to use that language. But Roxas, please, if you have a moment we would appreciate it if you could clean up after the dog."

Roxas don't know where it came from, but he said, "Why can't Sora do it? He hasn't even started any games or teams yet, and I have a lot of things to sort through for my new classes."

Big mistake, opening his mouth.

His father gave him a look. For some reason, he and Roxas never got along, no matter how

much Roxas tried to please his father. The chess tournaments, the committee for Twiligh Town at such a young age, all his straight A's, and interest at applying at a top college. Nothing.

"Bull shit. You act like you need to study, and you're always study in that fucking room of yours. Sora has to maintain constant practice for when the teams DO start up. He's exempt. You're not. You can stay up in your room all night, another night. But not now, you hear? Besides, it's unhealthy to be in your room so much, who knows what weird shit you do up there."

Roxas blushed. How could his father say such a thing? Roxas smelled the air. Whiskey, again, coming from his father, though, not as strong as usual. His mother, a young women with blonde hair, but sand brown streaks from age, and a small figure smiled. "He doesn't mean it, Roxas. Would you please? It won't take you long."

Roxas looked at his dad then went upstairs. "Fine." he muttered, walking past them and going inside. In the back round, he could hear his mother scolding his father, although, it didn't effect him much. "Not my fault he's such a … strange kid." was the last thing he heard his father say before. Roxas flinched, but kept walking to his small room at the end of the hall, by the lone window and nightstand which held a plant. Something you'd see in a movie, or motel.

His heart finally calmed down, and when he got into his room, he looked back, hearing music. Sora was occupied, so he didn't need to worry. With a deep breath, he closed his door quietly, looked out his window which aimed to the front yard, and saw his father in the car, looking for his briefcase no doubt, and his mother who started to wash the mailbox with the garden hose.

Roxas headed to his desk and shuffled through a bunch of notes. Finally, a colored paper came out, and Roxas quickly tugged it from the pile. He looked at it slowly, his heart racing. One thing no one knew about Roxas was that he was gay. Secretly, he had known for a long time, but knew something was different. So, he kept quiet. Not even his best friend, Hayner knew about it. And the magazine he held was a gay one.

Nothing pornographic, just a basic one about updates (though it was a year old), though it did show some men without their shirts off, or even kissing. Roxas didn't buy it, but he was lucky enough to find it one night in the sandlot after one of Sora's games. He looked around and quickly scooped it up, then stuffed in in his pants, covering the rest with his shirt. In that case, the magazine had become a little messy and crumpled, but nothing serious.

He stared at it and sighed. He had thought his parents had found it, but there was no sign they had been in his room. _'I gotta find a better hiding place for you,' _he thought as he silently thanked God. He looked around his small room, which didn't leave any hiding places. Except for... Roxas sat on his bed and opened his backpack, then stuffed the magazine between his math book and binder. Roxas was never disorganized, but his backpack was so full of papers it did look messy anyway, though it was all placed neatly.

"No one ever looks there." Roxas muttered. He smiled until his fathers loud, slurred voiced called, "ROXAS!"

Roxas jumped up and zipped his back pack, quickly running out and down the stairs. His backpack wobbled at the edge of the bed, then fell down on the ground with a loud thud. At that moment, Sora had walked out of the room, curious as to who was yelling. When the backpack fell, he looked into the room, then laughed. "Oooh, spooky." he laughed again, then went to pick it up. He didn't grab it right, though, and Roxas hadn't zipped it up fully, so the backpack spilled open, and all its contents rushed out. Sora dropped to his knees as fast as he could, trying to stop all the notes, but he failed, and everything was in a pile on the ground.

"Oh, no," Sora said, looking back to see if anyone was coming. No one was, so he tried to sort all the papers in a single, neat pile so he could stuff him back in, but he stopped as soon as he saw a magazine. It was titled, "_2b or not 2b_", with articles about getting the right boyfriend, great fashion tips, and... being gay and safe?

Sora wasn't sure what made him look, even though he didn't want to, but he did. On each page, men were kissing each other, or touching, or just laughing. Tons of gay articles filled the page. Sora turned red, his stomach turned, and he began to shake. It was as bad as finding your parents used a toy or some sort.

He slammed the magazine shut, hoping the secret would go away, but it didn't. The word 'gay' echoed in his mind over and over. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Yeah, Sora assured himself. Yeah. His brother wasn't gay! Not _his_ brother, not a chance. After taking a few breath, Sora stuffed the magazine in the backpack, and looked inside it. It didn't look like before. Papers were sticking out, and books were tilted. Sora knew Roxas was bound to notice, but he decided not to say anything, anyway. Or, at least until Roxas brought it up. Shaking it off, Sora put the back pack on the bed, then walked out of the room, and back into his own, trying not to think about what he just saw.

Meanwhile, outside, Roxas was alone, raking the poop into a neat pile near the lone tree in their yard. He sighed, then looked in the kitchen window, where his father was sitting and reading the newspaper, and his mother was starting on dinner. "Shouldn't you be working?" came a voice from behind Roxas, who jumped and turned. There stood Hayner, his best friend, and his other two good friends, Pence and Ollete.

"Oh," Roxas said calmly, taking a deep breath, "it's only you."

"That makes me feel loved," Hayner laughed, throwing his arm over Roxas' shoulder. Roxas smiled and shrugged. "You know I didn't mean it like that. So what's up?"

Hayner took his arm off Roxas' shoulder and pouted. "You mean you forgot?"

Roxas thought for a moment then shook his head. "Forgot what?" he asked, and it seemed to make Hayner flinch a little. "Aw, dude! You totally forgot!" Hayner finally said, waving his hands in the air and walking away from Roxas. "What are you talking about?" Roxas asked. Pence looked at Hayner, who had his back turned, then picked up a small stick and swung it slightly, but dropped it just as quickly as Hayner turned around.

Roxas thought for a moment, then turned white. "The struggle!" Roxas blurted out.

Hayner sighed and looked at the ground. "How could you forget? That's all we talked about

this summer... we even practiced. You know it's always at the end of September!"

Roxas felt bad and tried to say something like, "I'm sorry," and, "it slipped my mind.", but Hayner shook his head. "Roxas will probably be on the festival committee, and has all his advanced classes this year, Hayner," Ollete finally said. "he has a lot on his plate."

"Oh, excuse me," Hayner said sarcastically, "let me know when you can fit us on your busy schedule." and before Roxas could ask what he meant, Hayner left by playfully shaking his fist at Roxas. "Well, if you can, free up some time and come by my place! I made a mini-arena!"

"Now I feel like crap..." Roxas said slowly, but Pence shook his head and said, "Don't be. You know how Hayner is... the smallest thing upsets him. He'll get over it tomorrow."

Roxas could only sigh, then tried to think of something else. "Did you apply for the committee yet?" Ollete asked. She was always poking at them, making sure they did their work. "I was going to, but I got stuck out here, cleaning dog... poo." Roxas replied.

They continued to talk, while inside, Sora was in his room. Should he call Kairi, or shouldn't he? He didn't know what to do... He took a breath and sat at his desk chair, twirling the cell phone between his hands.

Roxas was gay? If he was, why didn't he tell anyone? How did it happen? Plenty of questions bounced in Sora's head like a bouncy ball, with no way to catch it.

"Sora, Roxas, dinner!" they're mother called, making Sora jump a little. He looked at his clock, seeing it was a little after 6. How long was he out of it? Shaking it off he took a deep breath and headed downstairs for dinner.

**-End**

A/N: There ya go. Not many changes, but some that will make the story more... believable. Reviews are appreciated!


	2. Under the Weather

"**Nightshade Fever" by Cerberuswaltz **

_A/N: Second part of the update, this chapter might be re-worked the most, or it might not. Then after this I'm going to start working on the 3rd chapter. Enjoy._

_Chapter 2, "Under the Weather"_

Sora had swallowed hard, then walked down stairs, shutting his door behind himself. He started to walk down stairs, where he saw Roxas saying good-bye to his friends. He quickly ran down to the kitchen in hopes to avoid his brother. After all, what was he supposed to say? He had no idea how to deal with this. What would their father say? Their mother? His friends? He could only think of his father who would use the terms 'queer' and 'faggot', of which Sora knew weren't good terms.

The more he thought about it the more he panicked, unsure of even which way to go. Roxas, now sitting at the table, was explaining to his mother about the Fall Fair. The Fall Fair was a local tradition, a big carnival and a movie out in the park. Roxas, a star student, was on the comment, the twelfth member. Sora scratched the back of his head, scared to approach the table until his father walked into the room and sat down. His mother turned and smiled, seeing Sora standing in the hall.

"Did you need something, dear?" she asked, but he shook his head 'no', giving a nervous smile. "Okay, then, go ahead and sit down so I can serve dinner."

Sora slowly walked to the table and sat down across from his brother, whom continued to talk about the festival. "This year we're planning on a big surprise, like a stunt or something, but we're not sure what we're going to do yet, or if I'm really on the committee at all even." Roxas explained. His father stared at Roxas and laughed. "You got to be joking? Waste more money on this thing? It's ridiculous. Why should my tax dollars and the councils time go into this pathetic even which has little meaning?" their father said.

Roxas, already knowing his father just replied, "Well, it does have significance, dad. It's for the founding of our town and the triumphant tale of love over all."

Maybe the last bit could have been left out. Yeah, probably.

Their father just grunted and looked at Sora. "So how's training son? You gonna make sure you're on the team again this year, right?"

Sora smiled and nodded. "Well, in track nothing big, but we've got a baseball practice coming, so I'm going to try to rest and exercise a bit more." Sora said as his mother served him a pork chop and some mashed potatoes. His father beamed and patted Sora on the back. "That's my boy!"

Roxas, though far smarter than Sora, and possibly everyone in his school had a lot; good friends, a perfect record, a strong bond with his family from their constant praises, but one thing he always lacked and wanted was affection from his father. He was still second to Sora, even with his good grades and how well-mannered he was, how many people telling their father, Blake, he was extremely lucky to have Roxas as a son, the mere fact Roxas played none, nor had any interest in sports distanced himself from his father.

And of course no matter how many bad grades Sora got, the occasional fist fights, his bad manners, his father looked at Sora with pride because he played sports his whole life, from junior soft ball to foot ball in junior high, and now track and baseball. Roxas was jealous of Sora, of course, but never said a thing. He had to take it in stride

Now, when their mother sat down the conversation turned to the father's day at work. He started complaining about one of his co-workers, Benjamin, when his father grunted, "And to make things worse the guy acts like some queer. To think Mr. Jones would hire him. Can't work, can't think. Probably takin' to much penis in his ass, the freak."

Sora's eyes widened and he looked at Roxas, suddenly choking a bit on his mashed potatoes. His father usually made crude remarks, yes, but now Sora realized it. Roxas was looking down into his plate now, his face somewhat hidden, poking at his pork chop. Sora looked to both his parents to see if they noticed, of which they apparently didn't as his father continued to rant and his mother listening, her face expressionless. Sora just turned red and quickly ate his food, grabbing his glass of milk and running up stairs.

"What's with him?" his father asked. "Well, he did say he was going to try and get more rest? she replied, his father grinning ear to ear. "Smart kid." he laughed again, then begin to eat his food.

Roxas finished quickly, too, and gave a slight bow. "May I be excused?" he asked. His mother nodded with a smile, and when Roxas left his father watched him. "Why the hell does he ask that every night? He acts like we care if he eats here or not."

"He's just very polite, dear. Roxas is a very kind gentlemen." their mother, Mary replied. Blake just snorted and crossed his arms. "Well he needs to stop. Makes him too much of a gentlemen. Might as well be a pansy."

His mother gave a stern look while Blake took a chug from his beer. Meanwhile, upstairs, Sora had pulled out his cell phone and closed his door, dialing Kairi's number. After a few rings she picked up. "Hello?" she asked. "Hey," Sora replied, trying to sound happy, "What's up?"

"Oh, hi Sora!" she said, the enthusiasm in her voice high. "You're not busy, are you?" Sora asked, and Kairi said no. "Are you alright, Sora? You sound kind of down." Kairi asked. Sora winced a little, but knew Kairi cared, and he could tell her anything. "Kairi, I found out something really, really bad. I don't know what to do."

"Well, what is it, Sora? You know you can tell me." Kairi assured him. "I know," Sora replied slowly. He took a deep breath, and tried to think of how he would say it. Gay sounded so strange coming out of his mouth. "Well, it's about-" he started, but got up quickly and looked into the hallway, making sure Roxas' door was closed and his parents still down stairs, "my brother. You know?"

Kairi listened carefully. "Okay, Sora, go on." she said. Sora felt sick in his stomach, trying to push the words out. _'My brother likes guys? My brother isn't like everyone? He's rather be with a guy, then a girl?'_ he thought. No, no, and no. "He… he got a bad grade and isn't telling anyone." Sora suddenly blurted out. He could tell Kairi was expecting something else. He wanted to take it back, to explain, but he was already shaking. _'Why should I feel bad? I'm not gay!'_ Sora thought. "That's… all?" Kairi asked, trying to push the rest out of him.

His body and mouth refused, though, and he just said, "Yeah, isn't it … something? Roxas lying to my parents and all, you know." Sora stammered a bit before straightening himself out.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I'm sure he had a good reason." Kairi explained. Sora just sighed and looked at the ceiling. "I guess," he said. There was a moment of silence before he talked again, knowing Kairi knew he wasn't telling the whole truth. "I'm not feeling too well. I think my mom's cooking was raw or something. I'll talk to you tomorrow, babe." Sora finally said with a sigh, scratching his head.

"Oh, okay. Good night, Sora. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Kairi said, obviously even more confused. She hung up, leaving Sora to listen to the beeping of the phone.

**-END**

_A/N: This new Open Office is pretty neat! I'm having fun with it. Hopefully it makes it easier to read my stories, too!_


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